Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

1422.0. "Concert bands and wind ensembles" by BAVIKI::GOOD (Michael Good) Wed Dec 07 1988 10:50

    Here's a note to discuss recordings of concert bands and wind ensembles
    available on CD.

    Concert bands and wind ensembles - large ensembles of woodwind, brass,
    and percussion instruments - are generally more popular than orchestras
    in American schools and universities.  Many instrumental musicians play
    in these groups.  As a serious concert organization, the band has
    really only come into its own in the twentieth century, and that's when
    most of its original repertoire has been written.  Here's I'd like to
    discuss recordings of these concert works.  Marches and brass band
    works are related topics, but probably deserving of their own notes.

    The landmark set of wind ensemble recordings was the series made by
    Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble for Mercury in the
    50's.  These were among the highest-fidelity recordings of the time,
    and have been reissued on LP several times over the past 30 or so
    years, most recently on Mercury Golden Imports.  They really helped
    establish a core repertoire for band, including works by Holst, Vaughan
    Williams, Persichetti, Grainger, and many others.  Except for a Sousa
    compilation, these aren't available on CD yet.  However, the latest
    issue of Fanfare brings the good news that Mercury is planning a
    comprehensive reissue of their Olympian series on CD, including the
    Fennell recordings.  So we shouldn't have to wait too much longer.

    Fennell later made 3 LP's with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds (the
    woodwind, brass, and percussion sections of the Cleveland Orchestra,
    plus friends) for the Telarc label.  Telarc's approach to recording was
    similar to Mercury's, but updated to more recent technology.  The first
    LP, including the two Holst Suites for Band, a Bach transcription, and
    Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, was the first commercial
    digital recording made in America.  That recording is available on CD,
    as is a "Stars and Stripes" compilation from the other 2 LP's, which
    includes Grainger's "Lincolnshire Posy."

    Several CD's are out of the basic British repertoire from the early
    20th century - the Suites and Hammersmith by Holst, the Vaughan
    Williams Folk Song Suite and Toccata Marziale, and Lincolnshire Posy
    and other works by Grainger.  I haven't heard all of them, but from
    what I've heard they don't match up to Fennell's versions.  If you want
    this music, I'd get the Telarc CD's now and wait for the Mercury
    reissues.

    Some other interesting recordings are available on import labels.  The
    French label Calliope has reissued two of the LP's on one CD.  This CD
    includes the Symphonie fun�bre et triomphale by Berlioz, one of the
    first major works written for band, as well as works by Florent
    Schmitt, Gabriel Faur�, and Charles Koechlin.  I don't have the CD
    version yet, but I have the LP's and highly recommend these recordings. 
    The Berlioz is probably the best version available so far, and the
    others are the only available commercial recordings of those works.
    Tower Records usually has this in stock, under Berlioz.  It's imported
    here by Qualiton.

    A rather odd CD called "New Brass Symphony" has just been released by
    Bayer, and imported here by Koch Import Service.  This German CD is a
    tribute to the late Dutch composer Henk Badings.  It includes a horn
    concerto by one of his students, Hans Pfl�ger, and three works recorded
    by the American Wind Symphony Orchestra: Pittsburgh Overture by
    Penderecki, Concerto for Percussion by Mayuzumi, and Armaggedon by
    Badings.  The American Wind Symphony Orchestra (now the American
    Waterways Wind Symphony, or something like that) has commissioned many
    wind symphony works over the past 30 years.  These 3 pieces, especially
    the Penderecki and Badings, represent their more avant-garde
    commissions from the 60's.  They were available on a private-label LP,
    later distributed by CRI, before being reissued on this CD.  Despite
    the label claim, these aren't DDD recordings - that probably applies to
    the Pfl�ger.  It's highly recommended to those interested in more unusual
    music than is typical for bands and wind ensembles.

    RE:.0
    
    I have the Sousa compilation on CD that you mentioned and although
    it is obviously AAD it is very good. 
    
    	/s/	Roger